Bihar today extended its lockdown till June 30, going by the Centre's guidelines declared yesterday. The Centre has announced the fifth phase of lockdown, which will continue till June end. But this time, there is also a phased plan to open up the economy and public life.
This morning, an order issued by the Bihar government read: "Ministry of Home Affairs, Central Government has issued guidelines to check the spread of the coronavirus and extended the lockdown till 30.06.2020. After discussions, the state government has decided to implement the Home Ministry's order and its guidelines".
There was no detail on how the state plans to proceed. Earlier this month, while announcing lockdown4, the Centre has announced a number of relaxations, leaving it to the state governments to take the final call on their implementation.
Over the last weeks, as markets have opened and transport -- rail, road ad air -- restarted in a limited fashion, the Centre said it would allow the opening of malls, hotels, restaurants and places of worship from June 8. This can operate in all areas except containment zones, which have a huge number of coronavirus cases.
In the fresh guidelines -- announced a day before the current phase of lockdown was scheduled to end -- the home ministry said all activities banned earlier will be allowed in phases.
Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed on the need to exercise more caution as the economy opens up.
In his monthly address "Mann ki Baat" today, the Prime Minister said: "In such a scenario, we need to be even more alert and careful. We should not be careless in our fight against coronavirus. We have to continue to follow social distancing and other protocols more sincerely now," the Prime Minister said.
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